Tag work

When You Need To Get Away

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california

I am the kind of person who burns the candle at both ends, not necessarily because I like to constantly feel like I am being run ragged, but because I always have an insanely busy schedule which has me switching gears constantly throughout each day. My usual response to the question, “What did you do last weekend?” is that I worked. I am ALWAYS working on something, and there is always something to do in my hectic life.

There is a bit which comic John Mulaney performs which captures the feeling which I feel whenever I get the rare chance to actually relax on a weekend. Here’s his bit:

Kids always want to do stuff, kids get angry. They go, “awww, we didn’t do anything all day!”
You ever ask an adult what they did over the weekend and they say they didn’t do anything, their faces light up. It’s like, “What did you do this weekend?” Ï, uh, (big smile across one’s face) I did nothing. I did nothing at all! Did we do anything? No, we didn’t do anything!”

I am definitely feeling the urge to get away so I can get a break from the constant movement which defines my daily life. I firmly believe that everyone should take vacations and go on weekend getaways every now and then to recharge the spirit and relax the body and mind. Though I won’t be able to take any big trips this year, I know that a weekend getaway needs to occur soon so that I can preserve my sanity! The telltale signs of burnout are showing, such as lack of concentration, irritability, and fatigue. The nice thing about living in southern California is that there are so many options available for weekend getaways, so I will make sure to plan something very soon.

My TV Is More Like A Radio

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TV
Though I usually have the living room television turned on while I am at home, I rarely glance at the screen, so it functions more like a radio, providing background noise while I work. One of my roommates likes to turn the channel to the Cartoon Network, so the audio is usually quite lively when he is home. He has the same habit I do, in which he turns on the TV for background noise but doesn’t actively watch it. Before you assume that it is a crappy old TV, let me clarify that it is a 47 inch LED TV, the screen size of which I lamented for no good reason since I rarely actually watch programs or movies on TV. I recently stated that with the rather large living room we have, it would make more sense to have a 65 or 70 inch TV (which I am nowhere near being able to afford), but I seriously doubt that a larger set would inspire more active viewing. That would be a pretty massive and expensive radio!

Even right now as I sit on the living room floor with my laptop on the coffee table (this is what I normally do despite the fact that I have a huge and very comfortable leather sectional sofa), the TV is on, dialed into the Cartoon Network, with American Dad airing and the sounds of cartoon voices at a low volume. Every ten minutes or so, I look at the screen briefly, to rest my eyes from staring at the computer. When my roommate isn’t home and I turn on the television, I usually do a bit of channel surfing to find something that isn’t too loud or annoying. I have been more drawn to tattoo shows lately for some weird reason, maybe because the bleeped out profanity captures my attention while I am writing. There is a certain comfort I get from sitting in the living room with the TV on as opposed to sitting in complete silence, which explains why I almost automatically turn on the TV before I begin working.

Does anyone else have this habit?